Red Roses
by heroesneverdie-x
Summary: Felix finally shakes off a persistent Bridgette, only to start coughing up crimson roses. ( Hanahaki Disease!AU )


"No."

Her smile fell and her blue eyes lost their sparkle of excitement. "Please, Felix. Just give me a chance!" she said, eyes watering. "I'll leave you alone after this one date! If you don't like me after that, I'll leave you alone!"

"No."

He walked away, ignoring how Bridgette fell to the ground, heart cracking after so many rejections. She clutched the tickets in her hands as she stared at the ground, tears finally escaping her eyes. It was about time she took a hint, Felix thought as he made his way home.

He didn't care about her. Not at all. But what was that pain in his throat?

* * *

"I'm not in the mood for your games, Chat Noir," Ladybug said, turning away. Usually she would blatantly reject him, only for him to continue to try the next night. Yet, today her motions were slow, lost of energy.

He held a rose in his hand, still holding it out to her despite her obvious disinterest.

"Is something wrong, m'lady?" he asked, though in all honesty only did out of obligation. He was only trying to woo her to free himself from the ring after all. Just to feel himself from the curse.

"I," she paused. "Just a bad day that's all." She turned to him, pushing the rose back towards him so that it touched his chest. "Keep it. I don't want it."

He frowned. "It's just a flower. It doesn't have to mean anything if you don't want it to."

"I don't want it," she stated, her voice hardening. She took out her yoyo, poised to throw. "Nothing's happening so I'm cutting patrol short. Bonne nuit, Chat Noir."

She hurried away and he watched as her figure disappeared into the night. He sighed in frustration. No progress tonight. He felt a searing pain in his throat, coughing. A single red petal the hue of the flower in his hand fell to the ground.

* * *

Bridgette had been avoiding him. It should've been a relief, like a weight off his shoulders. Yet he found himself glancing at her over and over, silently wondering when she'd try again. He coughed again, attempting to sip his coffee but his vision blurred.

Drops of blood fell onto the table and more crimson petals along with it.

 _It was fine. The pain would go away._

* * *

 _Weeks_. _Petals_ _for_ _weeks_. He kept the cursed petals in a jar, rapidly filling up.

"Kid," Plagg said, zipping over to her charge sitting by the jar. "You might want to-"

"No." Felix croaked, coughing up yet another blood red rose petal. "I'm fine. Let's go to patrol."

He transformed and met Ladybug on the rooftops. "Evening, m'lady," he said, ignoring the hoarse sound of his voice.

She didn't answer, instead staring into the sky. She'd been growing more distant, only speaking out of duty during battles. After a long minute of silence, she spoke.

"Just leave me alone, Chat. I shouldn't have come-" she burst into a fit of coughs, slapping a hand over her mouth.

He rushed to her side. "M-m'lady?"

She fell to the floor, the fit finally relenting. She scrunched her hand into a fist and removed it from her mouth. "I don't think we should patrol. Not tonight. Not tomorrow. Just-" She paused, sighing. "Don't come unless there's an attack."

And with that she went, leaving Felix dumbfounded on the rooftops.

He should've been disappointed that he wouldn't be able to get that kiss to free himself anytime soon, yet he found another ache inside. It was quickly overtaken by another scorching cough and more rose petals.

* * *

Felix found himself looking back on Bridgette more than he would've liked. He always thought the girl was a nuisance, yet with her gone, something was missing from his life.

He coughed, a petal falling into his tea. The curse hadn't topped for an eternity. She glanced back at the dark-haired girl, watching as she hacked a single inky flower into her hand.

* * *

He carried the jar with him this time, sitting on the Eiffel Tower. The jar was nearly full, mostly of petals but more recently with full roses. He sighed in frustration.

What was he feeling? Pain. Yet not only from his throat. A weird throbbing in his chest he wasn't familiar with. He took in a shaky breath, a searing pain in his throat.

He had hoped to see Ladybug, though he knew she wouldn't come. The golden lights reflected off the glass of the jar, highlighting the crimson contents.

"Chat Noir?"

He looked up, stormy eyes meeting oceans. She stared down at the jar in his hands. "What's that?"

He tried to hide it, though she'd already seen. "Nothing. What are you doing out?"

"I could ask you the same thing, Chat," she sat down next to him. "Let me see the jar." Her eyes steeled, her voice commanding.

He shook his head no and suddenly burst into a horrid coughing fit, blood and fully bloomed roses of the same color falling into his lap. Ladybug's eyes widened in alarm and she immediately tried to help, though it only seemed to get worse.

"Chat!" she cried. "Hang on!" She wrapped her arms around his torso and squeezed, getting a final flower to escape from his lips.

Tears stung his eyes and his throat was on fire. Ladybug looked him in the eyes, her own watering, "Oh Chat." She choked, a small black flower floating into her hand. "I'm sorry." She handed it to him, looking sadly as it joined its crimson colored brethren.

He looked at it, the petals soft to the touch. She'd been going through the same pain as him. He gave a laugh void of emotion, of disbelief. The two sat in silence, a few petals scattering into the night sky. She looked closer, seeing the bloom was familiar to another one he'd seen…

"Bridgette?" he said, slowly looking up at her. Her eyes widened in shock.

"H-how'd you know?!"

"I'm… sorry. I didn't know," he put his head into his hands. "I didn't… I can't believe I actually fell for you. After you stopped."

"Felix?" She burst into tears. "I- I-"

The two fell in silence again, using each other for comfort.

"I love you," he whispered, thinking she wouldn't hear.

Though she softly whispered in reply, "I do too."

And suddenly the pain was relieved from his chest, he coughed a few stray petals, but it no longer hurt like thorns. Bridgette smiled at him and he knew she felt it too. She hugged him, and for once he didn't feel like pushing her away. Their lips neared each other and moments before they touched he pulled away, "We can't."

"W-why not?"

"I'll have to stop being Chat Noir if we do."

She hummed, "Well, We can't have that can we?" She looked over at the jar, "May I?"

He handed it to her and she popped off the cap. The two opened it together, letting the roses fly into the Parisian night sky.

* * *

 **A/N: I hope you enjoyed this one shot! It was written for the PV Challenge on Miraculous Amino! Expect another fanfic coming soon and updates to my previous ones.**


End file.
